Hello everyone!

First off, I must tell you how much I love you all. Not only do I have wonderful reviewers who gave me some very very kind and reassuring reviews this week (thank you thank you thank you thank you to each and every one of you), but if your reading this right now it means you have read 24 chapters of this story and are still enjoying it, which makes me smile :)

I'm (again) extremely excited to be publishing this chapter today. This is a story line I've been thinking about since december and it's now march, so it's been a long time coming! I hope you all enjoy it, and I really hope you all will review so I can hear what you think!

Enjoy :)

Chapter 25

"Well look who it is", one of the tall masked figures said. "The daughter of the perfect family."

"What do you want Goyle?" Rose demanded. He might have been masked, but that voice she would have recognized anywhere.

She reached inside of her pocket for her wand as discretely as she could, but she was too late. As she was just beginning to feel the wood on her fingers, she was blasted back by what felt like a punch of air. Her entire body was pushed into the air and thrown against the cold, stone wall. She felt the wind get knocked out of her and struggled to regain some sense of breath. Her vision was foggy and the pain was beginning to settle in as she crash to the ground. The cruel laughter of the Slytherins filled the air along with her scream. Before she could even stand again, she was tossed against the wall once more, only this time she heard more crunching from her bones breaking. Rose could feel herself losing consciousness; the pain was overtaking her conscious mind. She started to scream until her throat was sore, but it was no use. The hallway was silenced and she was alone.

Her mangled form lay on the ground, completely defenseless. The Slytherins were hollering with laughter at her tortured expression. One of the hooded students leaned over her and stuck their wand on her head, "Crucio" he whispered vilely.

Pain like nothing Rose had ever experienced overtook her. It felt like her whole body was burning and being stabbed with knifes all at the same time. She felt like her lungs were drowning in cold water and suffocating her until she couldn't breath at all. Her eyes were being pricked with needles and then pulled slowly out of her eyes. There were sensations and pains that Rose didn't even know how to describe but they filled her agony and her screams were deafening. She didn't even know what was real and what was simply magic, because she thought she felt a blade against her flesh. Her entire body was in agonizing pain and Rose was barely able to cope.

Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she was reminded that she had to think about something happy, like when you conjured a patronus. Something to elevate the pain. In that moment, all she could think about was Scorpius. She tried to capture the feeling she got when he kissed her and grabbed onto it like a lifeline. That small little glimmer of hope kept her from falling under the spell of the torture.

Finally, the pain stopped and she began to gulp for air, trying to regain control over her body. Goyle leaned over her practically lifeless form and whispered in her ear, "beg for mercy. Come on blood traitor, say it."

She could hardly speak at all; it felt like her throat wouldn't work anymore after her cries of pain. "No." She whispered. Her mother was brave when Beletrix Lestrange was torturing her; Rose would have to find that same confidence.

"No? Then tell us not to stop then." The masked figures voice taunted her in a way she couldn't describe. She could feel herself boiling with rage.

She didn't say anything; she simply laid there on the floor attempting to stay conscious. She knew once she blacked out that anything could happen to her, and she wasn't prepared for that.

"You asked for it, remember that when we spill your dirty blood. Crucio"

And the fight for sanity roared on.

Olivia stared at her ticking clock. Rose had been gone too long now, it was far past 15 minutes. Olivia asked herself if she was being paranoid, because after what happened to Lily she kept having nasty dreams. But no, this was Rose. She wouldn't dawdle on her way back to the dormitory after she knew Olivia was waiting up for her.

She hopped off her bed and tied on her shoes, not even bothering to put on socks. She quickly grabbed the first thing she saw, which happened to be a school robe, and opened the door as quietly as she could. She quietly ran down the stairs from the girls tower and crossed over to the boys. It felt odd going up this side of the Gryffindor tower, but she had to find Albus. Without the map she might not be able to find Rose.

She quietly opened the door and slipped inside the 6th year boy dormitory. She tip toed over to Albus' bed, avoiding the quidditch gear strung carelessly around their room, and crept up beside him. She pulled out her wand and whispered "muffliato" and they shook his shoulders gently.

"Albus, get up." Her nervous eyes searched his.

"Olivia? What's wrong?" She loved how he knew she was worried without even having to tell him, but she couldn't focus on that right now.

"It's Rose, she should have been back a long time ago. I need the map." Olivia insisted. Albus crawled out of bed and rummaged through his bag. He pulled out what seemed to be a simple piece of parchment and then motioned for her to go over to the door. Once they had both snuck out of his dorm, they quickly went down the stairs and into the common room.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Albus said quickly and began flinging open the map's pages. "Where was she supposed to be?" He asked frantically.

"The library, check around there." The two of them scanned the map until they found a group on Slytherins with Rose in the middle.

"Oh dear god." Olivia drew a hand to her mouth and they both shot terrified looks at each other. Before they even made a plan, the two of them were sprinting out of the common room and through the halls to make it to Rose. Olivia's fear of finding Rose in a injured state or worse drove her through the corridors as fast as she could run. The two of them reached for their wands at practically the same time as they were rounding the last corner and yelled different curses at the two closest Slytherins.

The group of hooded figures turned to face them and began to duel, two against five. Luckily, Albus and Olivia managed to disarm the first two Slytherins so well that their wands flew out the open window behind them. The pair began to run away from the couple as fast as they could. This made the fight a little fairer.

"Stupify!" Olivia yelled at the mysterious student. The boy fired back a different spell as they began their duel. She had to admit, the Slytherin was good. But Olivia was better.

The two of them chased each other down the hall throwing spells and yelling curses until Olivia managed to knock him out against a wall breaking his right ankle. With that he simply began to run, knowing he had no chance in hell to beat Olivia now. Olivia began chasing after him (as he had a significant limp now and she would catch up with him easily) until Albus yelled to her, "Rose! Get Rose!" Olivia cursed and ran back as Albus was finishing off the last Slytherin (who was putting up a very good fight) and she knelt next to Rose. It was heartbreaking to look at her, she was covered in her own blood and her limbs were bent out at strange angles. Olivia was frozen by the image of Rose's broken body. Unsure of what to do she tried to pick up the near-lifeless form and could manage to drag her across the ground. Albus was close to finishing off his dueling partner, but she could let him wait that long.

"Albus, just let him go. I need your help." The Slytherin began to run, knowing that Albus would now be distracted. Olivia and Albus carried Rose all the way to the hospital wing as fast as their feet would let them go. But, once they arrived they found that Madame Pomfrey was nowhere to be found.

"Go get Professor Longbottom, he'll know what to do." Albus told Olivia.

"I don't want to leave her alone!" Olivia insisted, still terrified.

"She won't be alone, she'll be with me." Albus reminded her. Olivia turned to leave and find Professor Longbottom and Albus stayed there still clutching Rose's hand.

"Rose? Goddamn it, why you? I already almost lost one sister. What's going to happen if I loose you too?" He tried to stop the hot tears from brimming over his eyes, but they fell slowly onto Rose's hand. "Can you hear me? Are you awake?" He shook her softly but she was unconscious, completely oblivious to what was going on around her. "When will you wake up?" He asked himself. A more terrifying question came out next, "Will you come back to us the same know-it-all, talented, wonderful person you were before?" At that he really broke down and started to sob. He thought of Neville's parents, the ones his dad told him about who went crazy under the curse. What if that was Rose?"

He held her hand tighter like it was the only thing that would keep her from slipping away. He continued to cry over her body, fearing that she might be gone for good. What was the last thing he had said to her? He couldn't even remember.

It may have been only two minutes or two hours, Albus didn't know. But soon enough Olivia and Neville came running into the hospital wing. Neville murmured a spell and a new doorway appeared out of the wall near the entrance to the hospital wing, clearly Madame Pomfrey's bedroom. He quickly began to bang on it, "Madame Pomfrey, we have an emergency." He yelled desperately. Albus knew that Neville must have been as worried about Rose as they were. He was practically an Uncle to her.

Madame Pomfrey quickly emerged from her room and went over to Rose. A gasp quickly escaped her and she looked like she may faint.

"Ok, Albus, go get Professor McGonagall. Olivia, please use the floo network in my office to contact the Weasleys. I'll stay here with Rose until you both get back." Neville told them. There was little Albus could do to say no to him, so he nodded his head and went out into the deep night of the castle.

Scorpius couldn't sleep.

Or rather, when he slept he was awoken with the memory of the fight he had with Rose.

He felt awful. And not the awful that just makes you feel a little queasy. The awful that causes your whole stomach feel like it's going to spill it's contents every time you think of it. Why had he said those things? He didn't really mean them. True, he was scared about what would happen, but break up with her? What was he thinking?

But then again, how selfish of him to take Rose's future away from her like that. Take her security away. Take her family away. He couldn't do that. He just couldn't watch himself ruin her life.

But he couldn't live without her either.

Scorpius knew it was somewhat ridiculous to think this way when you're only sixteen. But something about Rose was different and he would be a fool not to know that. They both knew how important this relationship was to them so how could Scorpius believe for a second that she would agree with him?

He had been thrashing in his sleep and his covers were almost completely off him. However, he had awoken in a sweat every time from his nightmares. He had tried to relax but he couldn't, so he knew he had to get some fresh air.

He walked out of the dungeons quietly; afraid his echoing footsteps would wake someone. It was almost pitch-black darkness down there with no windows, but he managed to find his way to the staircase. He wandered up the stairs and walked passed the main floor of the castle. He considered taking a walk on the second floor, but the moment he got there peeves began to fly around the corner.

And that was one ghost he did not want to see right now.

So he walked up the stairs to the next level only to run smack into Albus.

What the hell was he doing here?

"Albus?" Scorpius asked, shocked.

Albus skipped the formalities, "She's in the hospital wing Scorpius. She was attacked." His eyes looked frantic as Scorpius began to run down the hall to her. "Wait!" Albus called. "You can't go in there, Professor Longbottom won't understand why and he might ask you about it. Take the cloak." Albus handed it to Scorpius as a strange kind of peace offering and he gave Albus a weak smile.

"Thanks Albus, for everything."

"Don't worry about it." He replied and then two ran off in different directions.

Scorpius rushed to the hospital wing doors and slipped in them as quietly as possible so Professor Longbottom wouldn't notice. Quietly, he tiptoed across the floor to get to Rose. When he saw her he had to cover his mouth to stop him from letting out a scream of horror.

Rose, his beloved Rose, lying there covered in her own crimson blood. Her face was so pale it almost was the color of the sheets she was surrounded by. Her breath wasn't audible as she stayed frozen in front of him. Her face was covered in bruises that were already forming and gashes that cut her cheek open. Her eyes were closed, but he could see a trickle of blood coming from the left one.

Her clothes were a mess, her robe was torn in many places and the collar of her shirt caught the pool of blood dripping off her neck. Her hair was tangled and had been covered in a mixture of sweat and dirt. He reached out to touch her hand and it felt cold, so he instantly recoiled. He cast a silencing charm over himself so that no one would be able to hear his sobs.

This was worse than any nightmare he had ever had. In his nightmares he always lost her, but he never made it to the place where she looked like this. His beautiful and delicate Rose had been crushed.

He immediately felt a wave of guilt so strong that he had to clamp his mouth shut to stop himself from vomiting. He had practically told Rose hours before that he didn't think they should be together. The words he never meant might have been the last words he ever said to her. The thought was so awful that he curled into a ball on the floor and cried until he could hardly breathe. He hadn't cried like this since he was a little boy; his father thought it was a sign of weakness. But at that moment he didn't care at all. He only hoped that he would get his Rose back.

The thoughts began to swim around his mind like flies saying things like "what if she's dead? What if they killed her?" or "What if they put her under the crutacius curse? What if she goes crazy like Neville's parents?" Or the one he couldn't even bare to voice, what if those Slytherin's had forced themselves on her…

That one broke his already shattered heart more. How could he have been so careless? How did this even happen? What if it was his fault? What if she was looking for him?

Madame Pomfrey was trying to heal Rose' wounds and Scorpius could hardly watch. She lifted off her schools robes and exposed her torso to show even more gashes where blood was oozing out. It was torture to watch what they did to Rose and not be able to do anything but cry. He felt that he should be avenging her in some way.

Madame Pomfrey put on something that looked like dittany to Rose's wounds and they began to heal very, very slowly. Olivia and Albus returned with Professor McGonagall and tears nearly escaped her eyes as well. However, she refused to let herself cry and instead went over to talk with Professor Longbottom in the hall outside of the hospital wing. Olivia and Albus stayed behind and waited with Scorpius by her bedside until Madame Pomfrey had finished giving her potions and spreading dittany on her gashes. After that she left the students to wait with Rose and went out to find Professor Longbottom and the Headmistress so she could discuss the next action to take. As soon as she left Scorpius lifted the invisibility cloak off of him so he could hold her hand. It was still cold to the touch and it gave him a shiver down his spine. He looked at her awful state and wanted to cradle her in his arms, but he couldn't.

"Scorpius, you should come in tomorrow saying you feel sick so that you can stay here with Rose, since you aren't considered family." Olivia said.

He couldn't speak but nodded his head slowly, not taking his eyes off Rose. There was sound from outside of the door and Scorpius quickly threw the cloak over his head.

Hermione and Ron burst into the room and ran over to their daughter's bedside. Hermione gave an audible gasp and then a small sob from the back of her throat. Her hand found Ron's and the two of them sat looking at Rose in pure shock.

"What happened?" Ron demanded to whoever was around to hear him.

"She ran into some Slytherins after curfew on the way back from the library. We found her like this, we don't know what happened." Olivia explained softly.

Madame Pomfrey interrupted, "That's not completely true. We can figure out a little bit. She has a mix of magical and non-magical wounds all over her body, she appears to have been both cursed and physically abused. The cuts look as if she was thrown against something or something way thrown against her. Either way, it took quite a toll on her body."

"How's her breathing?" Hermione asked as her head snapped up to meet the pitying eyes of Madame Pomfrey.

"It's not where I would like it, but she's a fighter. Your daughter is lucky to be alive Mrs. Weasley, she's very strong to have made it to this place."

"What about recovery?" Scorpius could tell that Mrs. Weasley was desperate for answers that would give her some kind of comfort.

"I cannot say. It's difficult to tell what kinds of curses they used and the mental effects of this might be the real problem." Scorpius was a bit surprised Madame Pomfrey was being so honest, but he appreciated her more for it.

"Mental damages? What exactly to you mean?" Ron asked with a frantic expression.

"We believe that she may have been under the cruciatus curse this evening. Being exposed to it at a young age is extremely dangerous and we don't know how she will be when she wakes up."

Hermione let another tear escape from her eye and she bit her lip to try and stop herself from letting out another sob. Rose was only a year younger than she was when she had faced the horrifying curse. Looking at Rose was like looking in a twisted mirror. "When do you think she'll wake up?" Hermione was able to choke out.

"I'm not sure. The more rest she has the better though, her body needs time to heal." Madame said gently.

"Should I contact the rest of the family?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes, thank you." Hermione replied, not taking her eyes off of her daughter. Madame Pomfrey and the Headmistress quietly left the room so that Hermione, Ron, Neville, Olivia, Albus, and Scorpius were alone.

"I'm so sorry." Neville whispered after a few minutes of silence. "You asked me to watch over everyone and I failed." The sound of his misery was heartbreaking for everyone in the room and Hermione took his hand.

"It's ok Neville. We could never blame you for this." She tried to sound as reassuring as possible, but to see her daughter almost dead was the most terrifying thing that had happened to her a very long time.

A few more minutes of silence went by, as they all were absorbed in their own thoughts and tears when the doors flew open. Hugo ran into the room whispering to himself, "no, no it's a lie. It's not as bad as it sounds". But he was stopped short when he saw the small crowed that was gathered around his sister's bed. He let out a wailing sob and began to cry with reckless abandonment. Stopping only to quickly draw breath, the poor boy wept for his sister. Hermione wrapped her arms around him and rocked him back and forth as he cried, trying to comfort him.

Scorpius felt like he shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be allowed to watch this when he had hurt Rose so much only the day before. He felt like her was violating her family's privacy, but at the same time he couldn't force himself to leave.

So he stayed crying by her side until the sun slowly began to shine on the horizon. He prayed all night that Rose would be awake by morning. That this was a terrible dream that he would awaken from. But with the new dawn came new even more terrifying thoughts that would haunt him until they tore him apart.

All he could do was wait.

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